1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program. More specifically, the present invention relates to a display control apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program for allowing more rapid display of a view including thumbnail images.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, when a predetermined image that is taken using a digital still camera or a digital video camera and that is recorded in a recording medium is to be displayed, a list of images recorded in the recording medium are generally displayed. It is difficult to search for the desired image based on only the file name of a file storing data of the image if a great number of images are recorded. In order to overcome such inconvenience, smaller images, or thumbnail images, of the images are created, and an index image including the thumbnail images is displayed.
The user selects one of the thumbnail images displayed in the index image to view the image of the selected thumbnail image in full size on a screen of a display device.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an index image creating process of the related art. In step S1, a template image is obtained. The template image is a model image on which an index image can be based. In step S1, therefore, in the image display device, for example, a template image that is stored in advance in a read-only memory (ROM) is loaded (or stored) into a random access memory (RAM).
FIG. 2 shows a template image 11. The template image 11 includes a display area 12 to display thumbnail images. The template image 11 also includes icons 21-1 and 21-2. For example, the user selects the icon 21-1 to return to the previous page of the template image 11 (i.e., the previous view of the template image 11), and selects the icon 21-2 to advance to the next page (i.e., the next view of the template image 11).
In step S2, a desired number of thumbnail areas (e.g., thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6 shown in FIG. 3) used as areas onto which thumbnail images are drawn are created in the template image 11. For example, when there are four thumbnail images, four thumbnail areas are created in the template image 11.
FIG. 3 shows the template image 11 in which the thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6 are created. The thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6 are areas onto which thumbnail images are drawn, and are shown in black.
In step S3, thumbnail images are drawn in the thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6 of the template image 11.
After the processing of step S3, the process ends.
For example, the template image 11 shown in FIG. 3 has a capacity of up to six thumbnail images. When eight thumbnail images are to be displayed in the template image 11, first, the thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6 are created in the template image 11, and thumbnail images are drawn in the created thumbnail areas 41-1 to 41-6.
When the user selects the icon 21-2, the thumbnail areas 41-1 and 41-2 are created in the template image 11, and thumbnail images are drawn in the created thumbnail areas 41-1 and 41-2.
Recently, graphical user interface (GUI) index images (hereinafter referred to as “GUI images”, if necessary) including a plurality of thumbnail images have become diversified and complicated.
An exemplary technique based on a GUI image using thumbnail images is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-104373. In this technique, a thumbnail image list is provided. In this thumbnail image list, thumbnail images of a captured still image, a moving image, and a fixed-point observation image that is a collection of a plurality of still images captured a plurality of times for a certain period of time are displayed so that the captured still image, the moving image, and the fixed-point observation image can be totally managed.